Les potentialités démocratiques des médias sociaux font désormais partie des programmes de recherche de plusieurs politologues. Toutefois, la première analyse de l’utilisation de Twitter en contexte politique au Canada ne remonte qu’à 2010. Nous contribuons à cette récente littérature en explorant les manières dont les candidats aux élections générales québécoises de 2014 utilisent ce média. Pour les cyber-optimistes, la twittosphère peut faciliter les interactions avec les politiciens, augmenter l’accès à l’information et encourager la participation politique. En revanche, les cyber-pessimistes estiment que les espaces numériques servent essentiellement les professionnels du marketing politique. Pour analyser ces prétentions dichotomiques, nous avons analysé le contenu de plus de 13 000 gazouillis de candidats siégeant à l’Assemblée nationale du Québec. Nos résultats démontrent qu’à l’exception des candidats de Québec solidaire (dont les tweets se démarquent de manière statistiquement significative), les politiciens rattachés aux trois partis principaux du Québec ont surtout utilisé Twitter à des fins de marketing politique, notamment dans une stratégie de campagne négative.Social media’s democratic potential is now part of many political scientists’ agendas even though research in this particular field is quite new. The first analysis of the use of Twitter in a Canadian political context only dates back to 2011. We contribute to recent literature by exploring the ways in which candidates used Twitter during the 2014 Quebec general elections. According to cyber optimists, the Twittersphere facilitates interactions with political leaders and increases access to information, as well as encourages political participation. On the contrary, cyber pessimists are more inclined to see digital spaces as new breeding grounds for political spin doctors. To examine these dichotomous perspectives, we conducted a content analysis of over 13,000 tweets published by candidates of the main parties. Our results demonstrate that candidates of the three main parties used Twitter mainly as a political marketing tool, namely Twitter bashing. Tweets published by candidates of Québec Solidaire (that are statistically significantly different) were mostly e-democratic

Women continue to occupy lesser positions of power at all political levels in Canada, although scholars still argue on the accessibility of municipal politics to women. However, no previous study has systematically examined the gender ratio of mayors across Canada, as well as their (active) use of social media platforms in a professional capacity. Using novel data, this study examines the variation in social media adoption and active use by gender outside of an electoral campaign. Results show that there is a higher proportion of women mayors who have a Facebook page, as well as Twitter and Instagram accounts and who actively use them outside of electoral campaigns, when compared with men mayors’ social media practices.

Although mayors can have important impacts on citizens’ daily lives, local politics remains understudied, especially compared with national and regional politics. This study focuses on Canadian mayors’ digital political gender performance—or self-presentation—on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and the context in which this gendered performance arises. Overall, results confirm that mayors’ gendered performances are on a continuum rather than binary. Results from a visual content analysis of nine Canadian mayors’ social media accounts show that, broadly speaking, women mayors gravitate toward congruent, mixed gendered performances and avoidance strategies, whereas men mayors also display mixed performance of their gender, while more freely exploring congruent and incongruent approaches to gendered stereotypes. Additionally, semistructured interviews with these mayors show that women mayors still work under added constraints because of their gender, which translates into comments on their appearance, attitude, and lifestyle choices; increased aggression and lack of respect; and a generally greater mental load.

Background  This article aims to revisit the role of digital media in acquiring campaign-specific information.Analysis  We use datasets from the Making Electoral Democracy Work project that include campaign-specific questions to analyze six regions in three democracies (Canada, Spain, and France).Conclusion and implications  Results demonstrate that voters have a moderate level of campaign-specific knowledge and that traditional media are, at first glance, more useful to acquire political information. Nevertheless, when in interaction with partisanship, traditional media display a surprisingly greater selection bias effect and appear less useful to acquire information. We thus argue that digital media are in fact not more vulnerable to potential echo chambers that would lead to a homogenous information environment.Contexte  Cet article cherche revoir le rôle numériques des medias dans l’acquisition d’information de campagne.Analyse  Nous utilisons les données du projet Making Electoral Democracy Work qui inclut des question d’information politique spécifiques de campagnes électorales pour analyser six regions dans trois démocraties (Canada, Espagne et France).Conclusion et implications  Les résultats démontrent que les électeurs ont un niveau modéré d’information politique de campagnes électorales et que les medias traditionnels sont, à première vue, plus utiles pour en faire l’acquisition. Néanmoins, en interaction avec les individus partisans, ces médias traditionnels sont l’objet d’un biais de sélection plus important et apparaissent donc moins utiles. Nous soutenons donc que les médias numériques ne sont pas plus vulnérable aux de chambre d’écho qui mènerait à un environnement d’information homogène.

Framed contributes much to the study of race and politics in Canada. Tolley's quantitative study provides empirical evidence of racialized coverage, which is then enhanced by her discursive interpretation and qualitative interviews. The book has limited scope but provides a strong foundation for further valuable work.